The Orlando Magic continued a losing fight on Monday night in a 131-129 loss in Dallas to the Mavericks. Despite the loss, the biggest takeaway from the game was not what was happening on the court, but instead, who wasn't on the court.
Markelle Fultz was ruled out ahead of the game with knee management on the second night of a back-to-back. With Fultz absent from the starting five, a spot in the opening group opened. Earlier in the season, this would be where head coach Jahmal Mosley would insert rookie guard Anthony Black, who was making his homecoming to the Dallas area for the first time of his young career. Mosley went a different direction, starting the 'Minister of Defense' Jonathan Isaac to attempt to slow down Dallas star Luka Doncic.
J-I was coming off of a 23-minute contest on Sunday night where he finished with nine points, but more importantly held Kevin Durant to just 15 on the night. Isaac played 8 minutes in the first half against Dallas, but would not return in the second half due to precautionary measures. A frustrating pill to swallow for everyone involved, and Brandon had something to say about it.
Check out the full segment from Tuesday afternoon on In The Zone at the podcast linked below.